stimulus and this is his final thing that he is doing as he's ending, his final news conference, and janet yellen, the closing bell, janet yellen will be the next fed chief pending senate confirmation. quickly, just a reminder. i'm back up at 11:30 eastern, 8:30 on p.m. pacific. here's jake tapper with "the lead" that starts right now. >> stop letting the nsa collect american phone records, a review panel tells the president, but is he listening? the national lead breaking news this hour. we'll learn what sweeping reforms the white house is being advised to make after the president was commissioned to issue a review. doesn't mean he'll follow the recommendations. sorry, mr. putin, our president

won't make it to the olympics in sochi. he'll send some of those openly gay athletes instead. and the pop culture lead. >> is there something about my profession that is inherently amuseing? >> it's a profession that's based on being a serious, having good hair. your hair looks great. >> thank you, i appreciate it. >> i lay down the ground rules for my interview with anchorman will farrell. no touching of the hair or the face, and that's it. the funny man joins us as "anchor man 2" opens in theaters everywhere. good afternoon, everyone. welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. we'll begin with breaking news. 46 recommendations to overhaul the nsa surveillance. chief among the recommendations, a call toned the mass storage of american phone records by the government. i don't mean getting rid of them. the panel wants to see private

third parties handle storage instead, or the phone companies. the administration, ever fond of its secrets, was planning to keep a lid on the panel's relegations until january, but it's now releasing them to stone what it calls inaccurate and incomplete reports about this review. on the same day that president obama met with the panel that compiled it. the five members of the panel, most of them with notable backgrounds in national security, but one privacy expert, they were all hand picked by the white house. let's go right to our chief national security correspondent. jim, there's 46 recommendations, as we mentioned. walk us through the major ones. jim, apparently we're having some technical problems, jim sciuto, walk us through the major recommendations. >> reporter: well, jake, the headline point from this report is accountability, the panel members saying they want better

account ability by the nsa to the public, to congress, to the courts and even to the white house, but to be clear, as you said, they are not ending the most -- well, jake, if you can hear me now, the headline from meese these panel recommendations is the word accountability, accountability to congress, to the public, to the courts and to the white house by the nsa, but to be clear they are not ending the most controversial program which is the so-called section 215 which gathers all this phone meta data on american phone numbers and phone calls, that kind of thing. that's going to stay in place. one of the panel members saying to me, quote, that we're not in any way recommending disarming of the intelligence community because, he went on to say, this terror threat is still real. but let's go through some of the ways they are aiming to make the nsa more accountable here. the first one is they recommend the passage of new laws of legislation that would, as you referenced, move this phone meta

data from the nsa to the private sector, back to the phone companies, so the nsa isn't just sort of holding it there. they can go to it whenever they want to. they also recommend more court oversight of searches of that data so that when the nsa wants to search it for a particular phone number, they got to get more court backing for it. a few other things. they are recommending that the next nsa director, currently an admiral, traditionally a military official, be a civilian to give the impression of the public a better public oversight of this organization and recommending a special assistant to the president for privacy, and they also recommend, and this is interesting, that the cyber command, the military cyber command, be split from the nsa, but this is something that the white house has already publicly rejected. now, it's interesting as well that they are not just talking about protections for american citizens. they are talking about protection for foreign citizens as well, including making it clear that when the nsa accesses foreign data overseas it's purely for national security interests. they are not going to go out

there and trying to get secrets, for instance, to help american companies or just because they can, but because there's a national security interest. but also remember this issue that we've been covering, jake, a lot. foreign leaders, the nsa spying on foreign leaders such as angela merkel, her phone calls. made the germans very angry. that will now have to get senior level approval, approval at highest level in the white house by the president if the nsa is going to be spying on those kinds of communications. you know, earlier today i spoke with a senior administration official about this, and he told me this. he said, listen, they know they have a trust gap, not just with the american public but with the foreign public, and they are trying to address that here with hard measures. the white house is taking this to heart, and what i was told is that the president is going to review these. he's going to accept some of these recommendations and then in january he's going to speak before the american nation, the american people about these new constraints on the nsa so that he's fully transparent with the american public. >> all right. jim sciutto, thanks very much.

more coverage of the national security agency recommendations for reviewing the nsa in the coming days, of course, with response from critics as well. now the money lead, that will lookly be the last major decision of his ten use, and, boy, was it a doozy. today fed chair ben bernanke announced that the fed will start scaling back some of the billions being pumped into the economy each month as part of the massive stimulus plan. starting in january the federal reserve will buy $75 billion in bonds every month. that's $10 billion less than the norm, and it likely signals the beginning of what wall street calls tapering. kind of a baby taper here. basically the fed is slowly but surely cutting the cord to get the economy rolling on its own. stocks took a dramatic jump after the news with the dow shooting up nearly 300 points, closing on a record high. that might say that some see bernanke's reaction as a sign

that the economy is getting stronger. bernanke can leave his post on somewhat of a high note after what's been an rocky ride. let's start, diane, with today's decision. bernanke says even with the taper, even with stopping some of this money, only $10 billion a month, but stopping it, interest rates will stay low, he says. do you think this is the right call? >> it is the right call. i think what we're seeing, is you know, the fed -- two things that are important. first of all, treasury issuanced and mortgage-backed security issuances have actually fallen since the fed began this program a year ago, the new issuance so even though they are tapering they are buying a larger proportion of those markets than they were so they are not really easing up, not going away and did the pivot that we knew he'd do. we'll leave that punch bowl out there longer than you ever thought possible, as some of you get tipsy and the party gets going and more people are on the dance floor.

the promise to leave the punch bowl out longer than historically, longer than people thought possible, that helped to dampen the effect of tapering along with the concept that it really is small. this is a toe in the water. the fed didn't dive into the waters of exiting it. the intent is clear. ben bernanke is leaving with little hope on the future of 2014 being better. the elephant in the room of fiscal drag, higher taxes, higher government spending, the 21-month budget taking some of this off the table and there's hope that we can get a better economy about the fed playing tailwind rather than fighting a head wind. finally riding the horse into the sunset. >> ben bernanke has a lot of critics, many conservatives and some consider him a hero for in his view saving the country from another depression in addition to the stimulus plan. what do you think he's done right? >> i think one of the best things he did is he did avert another great depression. sort of serendipity that this

man predicated his career, was all credited on understanding the great depression, understanding financial crisis and what to do different. he sort of echoed some of that sentiment today. he said, listen, i feel in his own way, a little bit implicitly, felt indvindicated because other central banks around the world are now adopting the policies he told japan to do ages ago. they are finally doing it now with some success and that other banks are doing this which suggests maybe he got it right. also, we did avert another great depression. this economy is not the most encouraging economy, but we averted a great depression with the worst financial crisis in history, a worse financial crisis than we had during the great depression. i think he did do it right in terms of averting and abilg suati in frankly thee foundations of our economy were crippling back in 2008. >> a big day on wall street, diane swan, thanks so much. a decision with millions at stake that could sack one of the most aggravating rule sports fans are forced to deal w.fcc, the federal communications commission, voted on a proposal

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welcome back. the national lead now, a 3-d printer for astronauts, $125,000. a trip for music executives, $225,000, tax-exemptions for nevada brothels, $17.6 million.

congress sticki ining the taxpa with this stuff, the kind of government expenses the government is funding on your dime. part of a book that outlines egregious federal spending out in time for the bipartisan senate budget vote. senator tom coburn and ranking member of the homeland security and government affairs committee and oklahoma republican joins me now. senator, thanks for being with us. the grand total for 2013 here was about $28 billion. before we get into it, which example do you find personally most outrageous? >> oh, i think buying airplanes that you're not going to use and shipping them to the desert, $677 million of them, that's pretty egregious. >> who did that? >> the u.s. air force. >> and what's their excuse for it. well, what do they say? >> part of it is the congress forced them to do it, part of it. they are buying an airplane that they didn't really want, and it was a foreign-made airplane, and

actually that may not be right, but they were forced to buy them, and instead of using those, they bought c-130s to replace. >> which part might not be right, the fact that they were foreign made. >> that might not be right. i think they are but i can't remember. >> bigger picture here, who do you blame the most for this? is it the federal agencies, the -- you know, whether it's the air force or the department of energy? >> no. >> or is it congress? >> no, it's congress. congress want to do the hard work of overseeing these agencies, of doing the hearings that are required to get the information, to holding the agencies accountable so that they are fearful that if they continue to make really stupid decisions that there might be a consequence. you know, accountability is key in any type of management structure, and when the members of congress won't exercise that constitutional duty of holding the agencies accountable, you're

going to have this continuing. it hasn't declined any. this is the fourth or fifth year, and, you know, we continue to see the same amount of stupid stuff. i mean, there's even one in there where the national science foundation did a study at yale to see how stupid tea party voters were and what they found out is they are smarter than the average voter by far. totally untoward expectation because the reason that they wanted the grant was to undermine people who are constitutional conservatives. i mean, you know, it's that kind of stuff where we see people doing political things and -- even if you disagree with everything in my book, you would agree that with a $740 billion deficit this last year probably we shouldn't have spent any of this money on any of these things. >> have you gotten any blowback from groups that you're criticizing, including the pentagon? >> no, we -- >> not at all. >> we'll get some of the one of the things we do, jake, is we

let them know it's coming. be prepared because here's what we think, so we tell them ahead of time. we're going to put you in our waste book, and the fact that we don't hear back from them, you don't hear much from them is they are pretty red-faced over the fact that they are spending the money and most of their department heads and secretaries had no idea that they spent that money which shows you the incompetency of the management of the federal government. >> senator, you're going to vote no on the budget compromise today. how do you respond to republicans like congressman paul ryan who put this compromise together with democratic senator patty murray who says, look, this doesn't raise taxes. it's going to reduce the deficit. this is a winner. >> first of all, it's not going to reduce the deficit. number two, it does raise taxes. if every time i get on an airline and you're raising the fee i'm getting on there, you can call it a fee, but you're sucking money out of u.s. economy to the tune of $28 billion. the other thing is the age-old adage, just like we're showing with this bill, two years ago we promised the american people

we'd live at the budget control act numbers. we promised them we would. we're now two years later, and in this bill we're saying we're going to make up for all this in the last ten years of the next ten-year budget window. how many people would really believe that? you know, we're dishonest with the american public. number two is there's so much waste. there's a quarter of a trillion waste just in the discretionary program in the federal government outlined by the gao. that's not their number, that's mine. the fact is if congress hadn't acted, not one of the things in this waste book that has even been thought about being put into a budget deal. when we have that kind of waste and people making decisions that say we're not going to look at where the real waste, is we're going to take injured veterans and limit their pensions, it doesn't fit, and the american people shouldn't believe us. does this solve a political problem for the politicians? yeah. there's not going to be a blowup for the next year and a half

over budget numbers, so we've solved the problem for the politicians, but what we've done is damaged the future of the country by continuing to be dishonest about the numbers and the way we go about solving the problems. >> all right. senator tom coburn, republican of oklahoma. thanks so much for coming on the show. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> coming up on "the lead," an indian diplomat arrested and strip searched. did u.s. officials violate her diplomatic immunity and stay right where you are, san diego, you do not change the channel when ron burgundy comes on. my sit-down with will farrell still to come. for over 18 years we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. join today.

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welcome back to "the lead." in world news, the arrest of one woman in new york as an entire country ticked off with the u.s. the indian diplomat was taken into custody and strip searched because the feds say she submitted false document to get a work visa for her housekeeper and then paid the worker less than the minimum wage. the woman is accused of visa fraud, but the indian government says she has diplomatic ld have been arreste tshe never

first place. also e over how the arrest was handled. that's because in india a public arrest and strip search of someone of the woman's pedigree is virtually unheard of. dozens of protesters gathered outside the u.s. embassy in india to show solidarity with the woman and security barriers were moved outside the u.s. embassy in new delhi. the state department says secretary of state john kerry called a top indian official expressing his regret but the u.s. marshalls who arrested her said they followed standard policy. the u.s. state department has been taking more steps to more aggressively police the practice of some foreign diplomats having essentially indentured servants on u.s. sail. the pruning protest band pussy riot could be among thousands of russian prisoners getting an unexpected get out of jail free car. a law which does not require president vladamir putin's

signature will likely mean freedom for two members of the band who were arrested last year for hooliganism for a performance that included harsh criticism of putin. russian lawmakers say the new law coincides with the anniversary of the country's post-communist constitution but others say it's more to do with curbing criticism of human rights violations leading up to the 2014 olympics. let's check in on the political panel in the green room. the latest push for obamacare is coming from a guy in plaid pajamas. check out this tweet from the barack obama twitter account. how do you plan to spend the cold days of december, wear pajamas, drink hot chocolate and talk about getting health insurance and to this republican governor chris christie says get out of your pajamas, get volunteering. >> anything wrong with the footy jams? >> not that think plaid but that's another problem.

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welcome back to "the lead" in world news. not an olympic boycott like some lbgt advocates want, but ahead of the winter games in sochi, russia, the white house is making a very in your face move to president vladamir putin. just a few weeks today you'll see banners and emblems of every stripe and color hoisted high during the opening ceremony of the winter olympics, except for rainbows probably. those could get you arrested. russia has passed a strict law banning so-called gay propaganda. president obama criticize it had and today the white house announced that no one from the administration, not the president, not the first lady, nobody will attend the games, but you know who will? some prominent openly gay american athletes as part of the u.s. olympic delegation, including tennis legend and former u.s. olympic coach billie

jean king. would russia really enforce these laws against visiting americans? well, lady gaga's promoter was sued forks quote, promoting homosexuality with one of her concerts last year and she lost. if russians don't like gay propaganda, whatever that is exactly, then lady gaga must have made heads explode over there. while we're at it, have you ever noticed the olympic rings are sort of rainbow colored. better get on that. olympic diver greg louganis knows what it's like to struggle with sexuality as a professional athlete. took home gold twice each time in the '84 and '88 summer olympics. a few years later he game out as a gay man living with hiv, all documented in the new film "back on board." >> my name is greg louganis. i'm gay, and i'm hiv-positive. >> had he been a straight athlete, he would have made millions. >> why didn't you get the endorsements? why aren't you more successful? it doesn't matter. >> and greg louganis joins us now from los angeles. first off, greg, thanks so much for joining us. you said that you would have

been happy to serve on this delegation. are you disappointed you weren't asked to be on it? >> i was a little disappoint that had my name wasn't there. i would have loved to have been a part of that. what i always said is if i could go there and feel that i could make a difference, then i'd be there. they have got my support, but if i would be a distraction, then i would stay home, but, you know, what we're really, you know, trying to do is show that gay people are, you know -- there are gay children born in russia every day, and who is protecting those children? you know, these laws that are supposed to be protecting children, but what about the lbgt gay -- lbgt kids that are born in russia every day? who are protecting those kids? >> that's a great question. what do you make of the delegation picks, including two openly gay athletes?

>> well, you know, i think that's -- you know, that's important. it will be interesting to see, you know, how that is is utilized and spun, but, you know, just to be -- you know, just to be out there and actually a walking propaganda condition themselves. i mean, they are opening gay people and representing themselves. we're just regular folks, you know r know, around also, you know, i said, you know, for the athlete, you know, if they are successful and they are interviewed, then dedicate your performance to your openly gay, you know, aunt, uncle. i mean, we all know somebody who is gay, you know, and dedicate your performance to them. i mean, that's how we can support the lbgt community in russia because, you know, these laws are really, really, you know, difficult. it was bad enough being gay

growing up in the united states, and, you know, i didn't have legislation against who i was as a person. >> you don't support boycotting olympics. you missed out on the 1980 olympics because of the boycott. do you think that where this landed with the u.s. not boycotting, president obama, first lady obama not going, sending billie jean king and others there, do you think that that's about right, that that's about where this should have landed? >> you know, i -- i think that is -- that is the -- you know, i think it's some type of action, you know. we're taking some type of action. i mean, i had the opportunity to perform in the '76 olympic games, silver medal there, boy cost 1980. what a lot of americans -- always seem to forget is the 1984 boycott of the eastern bloc countries. i was also able to continue to

'88 where all of the countries were represented, so, you know, in -- in '84, i mean, my competition was there. it was china, but in a lot of the other sports, you know, the eastern bloc countries, they weren't there to represent themselves, so they missed out as well, and when you talk about olympic boycotts, i don't feel that olympic boycotts work. they hurt the wrong people, but when you talk about commerce and business, that works, so, you know, take it out on the sponsors, what the heck. >> greg louganis, thanks so much for your time. we appreciate it. >> my pleasure. coming up in politics, you've heard the saying drinking the kool-aid, but an illusion to the jonestown mass suicide has one now white house insider in some hot water and in pop culture he's the man who said he discovered the wheel and built the eiffel tower out of metal

and braun. i'll go one-on-one with anchor man ron burgundy. stick around because things are about toes calculate quickly "the lead." >> i'm sorry, sweetie, you're the best quickest. mine was earned orbiting the moon in 1971. afghanistan in 2009. on the u.s.s. saratoga in 1982. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

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welcome back to "the lead." in our politics lead the next time you hear someone toss around the inspection drinking the kool-aid you may want to explain to them what they are actually talking about. today the new white house counsel john podesta caught heat for using the jonestown massacre as an analogy for the gop. the administration's big comeback should, quote, focus on executive action given that they are facing a second term against a cult worthy of jonestown in charge of one of the houses of congress, unquote. after an uproar over that comment podesta is apologizing in a tweet saying in an old interview, it was just october, really, my snark got in front of my judgment. i apologize to speaker boehner whom i've already respected. back in 1978 over 900 americans were led to their death by a

phone faith healer and cult healer the reverend jim jones in a suicide pact in a south african jungle in which his followers drinked cyanide-laced fruit punch so probably not the best analogy. let bring in our panel, kristen anderson, opinion writer for the "washington post" and senior fellow as the center for american progress and elise from "the hill." in her inaugural appearance. >> matt, you know john through the center for american progress. this guy was supposed to come in and save the day. don't want to make too big of a deal out of this but kind of a roque start. >> could have picked a nonviolent cult, the ein rand cu cult. he's one of the most talented political executives of this era, and i think between his chops in policy, politics and communications, those three things together, it's very rare for one person in a white house,

as you know, to have that combination of skills. i think he's right person at the right time to help move this administration forward against all these problems they have got. >> he's no doubt a very gifted man and a very gifted executive, but kristen, there are a lot of republicans who saw that and said, well, first of all, this quote isn't old. it's from okay. second of all, why are you only apologizing to john boehner who you probably weren't even talking about to begin with? do you think this will actually do any damage, or is it just kind of like a faux outrage? >> his selection to begin with was already a signal that the era of mr. nice guy, if it ever existed, is over for this administration. i mean, john podesta is very publicly said, you know, i think this administration needs to take on congress, needs to go around congress when possible, that it's sort of a realization that congress is not going to get more democratic in these mid the terms, that they will have to, if they want anything from their agenda implement that had they will really have to go around congress to get done. i think it's setting up nasty

fights for the next three years. >> what are you hearing on the hill? >> interesting, republicans were very upset. >> legitimately upset? >> always hard to tell especially when the criticism happens on twitter. there's a lot of snark there as well but i think a spokeswoman, spokesman for speaker john boehner hit back at podesta and said, listen in, the white house is constantly complaining about tea party rhetoric why are we hearing this out of you, so i think we should look at how podesta handled the crisis. immediately got out in front of it and apologized on twitter, a sign of his effectiveness and why the white house want him there. >> let's talk about obamacare, not necessarily pajama guy because i think we've covered that sufficiently, but there's a new hampshire television ad targeting senate democrat jeanne shaheen from the ending spending super pac, take a look. >> on health care jeanne shaheen didn't tell the truth. >> you can keep your insurance if you like it. >> so next november if you like your senator, you can keep her. if you don't, you know what to

do. >> that's tough. >> it's a very tough ad in december twooentd. the question is will it be effective in november 2014? and, you know, they talk in that ad about 25,000 people who have lost their coverage. there are 250,000 people in new hampshire who are uninsured. my bet is by the time we fast forward eight or ten months enough will be done in terms of obamacare implementation that that story is going to change and what looks really powerful and it is today won't have as much bite. >> kristen, that's the point, why they are running this ad now is they want to set the stage of untrustworthy, you can't trust this person so that by november, if obamacare, if the affordable care act is something of a net positive, they have already sowed these seeds, don't want to call it character assassination. >> the most damning thing about if you like your plan, can you keep, it wasn't that people couldn't keep their plans but the perception that we've been lied to.

that's why you've seen president obama's numbers on this metric of do you believe he's honest and trustworthy have just plummeted in the last month or two, and that's what they are making this about. let's say you fix a website. if -- just because you fixed a website doesn't mean that you fixed the broken law and that's why republicans are going to try to hammer on this as sort of a character issue, not just a broken website issue. >> but the real character issue will be what's the republican plan for the 250,000 people in new hampshire uninsured or the millions of americans uninsured? is that fair kristen? >> perfectly legitimate for the republicans to criticize the horrible way the law is rolled out. what i caution with republicans is don't think you've got 2014 in the bag because obamacare has been such a disaster. a year is a very long time in politics and the economy remains the number one issue. keep the number one issue the number one issue. >> jeanne shaheen is creating a "playbook" for other vulnerable democrats on capitol hill how to handle this issue.

she introduced legislation to extend the open enrollment and she is saying listen, i understand a lot of people are upset their plans were cancelled and i have solutions to fix it. harry reid is very bullish about democratic chances in 2014 based on obamacare. debbie wasserman schultz said the same thing. >> what's he going to say? >> true. he thinks painting them as problem solvers with legislation in the bag to fix the law and adjust the time lines that democrats will be in a strong position. >> while we're talking about new hampshire there's a lot of buzz about scott brown, former massachusetts senator, the guy the most unwelcome inaugural president for president obama one year after he was nothing you rated, scott brown tipped the balance in the senate from 60 to 59 seat. what are the odds he actually moves to new hampshire and runs to senate? >> i think he's been making a smattering of appearances in the state. people don't really know what

he's doing but for the republican party he is their one best hope in new hampshire. not a lot of other candidates that could take on jooeb shaheen who had very strong poll numbers in the summer and is positions herself on obamacare. >> does carpet bagger work when it's just new hampshimassachuse york? romney had ahouse in new hampshire. >> this looks we're doing this opportunityistically. hillary clinton, what was her connection to new york in advance? maybe there's a certain stature you achieve at which carpet bagger can no longer be raised against you. not like england where the party picks a safe seat for you and sends you out there so i think it resonates when people say it. >> thank you all so much. congratulations on your first appearance on "the lead." you got through it okay. great job. >> coming up on "lead," will

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welcome back to "the lead." now it's time for the pop culture lead. if you've been in a glass case of emotion lately don't be so fast to blame it on the holiday season. perhaps you've just been overwhelmed by the return of america's favorite anchorman,

ron burgundy and his rather aggressive promotional campaign. "anchor man 2" opens in theaters today. will bring back familiar faces from the channel 4 news team and we'll be introduced to a new crop of characters which is sure to shank things up for burgundy and his salon quality hair. i recently had a chance to talk to a man a big deal to "anchorman" fans. >> when i was a typical 1972 male chauvenist anchor and i liked women but i wasn't sure that their place was necessarily sitting beside me -- >> that's mort crimm in a lifetime documentary about pioneering anchor woman jessica savithc. >> he said back then i was a real male chauvenist pig.

i did not like women, and that's kind of the genesis of us sitting here right now. >> reporter: we sat down with the actor in washington, d.c. in an exhibit dedicated to the film. this must be tripping, a museum exhibit in an actual museum dedicated for you and this film. >> bizarre. they have done a wonderful job of or diving, you know, the old news stations and the news teams, and we were -- we weren't far off the mark without even knowing it. >> you know, i didn't even realize, first of all, how much paul rodd's character, his entire wardrobe is geralda rivera. >> exactly. >> i happen to regard this as the best comedy of the last decade. >> well, you're wrong. >> which one? >> i think it's "booty call." >> i think that actually came out top five. >> that was more than ten years ago. >> oh, you're right, never mind.

>> i think it was late '90s. >> i think it's timeless so i throw it into many different time periods. >> i love scotch. that is good. >> you're on. >> "anchorman." >> it wasn't initially received as what it has become. >> no. it was -- it was a modest hit in the theaters when it first came out. and it was actually very divisive in a weird way. hi friends who would say that is the funniest thing i've ever seen, and other people were like i don't get it, and i -- i had a really good friend who went on a double date, and the other couple left in the middle of the movie. >> they left? >> they actually left and walked out and said this is too weird. i don't know what's going on. there's a gang fight with news people, and it goes into animation, like, come on. that's what's so fun. it kind of now has a legendary status, but it definitely didn't start that way.

>> we're starting a 24-hour news channel, and we want you. >> i'm going to do the thing that god put ron burgundy on this earth to do. have salon quality hair and read the news. >> this film is roughly ten years later. it's 1980 which was the -- the first year for cnn and for espn. it was the beginning of the 24-hour channels, and we kind of find ron and his team and what they are doing, and they are kind of given a second chance to get back into the news game by going on the brand new 24-hour news channel. >> welcome to gnn. >> the global news network. >> like cnn. cnn-esque. >> it's called gnn. >> so it's -- >> completely different. >> completely different. >> right. yeah, it's cnn-esque. >> i don't have any legs, ron. aghh! >> you know what, better backdrop to see ron and his incompetent fellow news team try

to compete with -- with what is now pretty much modern day news. and is there anybody that ron burgundy is specifically modelled after? >> just an amalgamation of all the local news guys i watched growing up. even though we -- you run into people in local news, and they say i bet i know who that is based on. >> that's why i ask. >> everybody owns it. a guy in l.a., local guy, harold green, who was in san diego. he went to l.a. used to have a mustache, and i randomly ran into him in the street one day, and he was like that movie is based on me, isn't it? i go, no. and he goes there's an old saying in the news game, yeah, right, and he walked away so he was convinced that it's based on him. >> that's a good line. >> yeah. >> i think we use it in the sequel. >> is there something about my profession that is inherently amusing? >> i think on-air journalists are -- try to be more human and have a few more laughs, do

the -- do the special interest store as i little more, and when it's time to deliver hard news, you guys, you know, are serious, but i think it's a profession that's based on being serious, having good hair. your hair looks great. >> thank you, i appreciate it. >> that's going to be in my promos. >> and that's a fun world to make fun of. >> yeah. i appreciate it. >> thank you so much. >> our thanks to will farrell. "the anchorman" sequel is expected to have an even bigger box office debut than the original which raked in $28 million. follow me on twitter @jaketapper and check out our show page at cnn.com/thelead for video, blogs and extras. that's it. i'll be back in two hours substituting for erin burnett's "out front" and i turn it over to wolf blitzer in "the situation room." >> happening now, breaking news. budget vote. the bipartisan spending bill, the first to pass a divided congress in almost three

decades. i'll talk about that with republican senator rand paul. why is he against it? nsa review, independent report on the controversial sfans programs leaked by edward snowden has just been released. does it vindicate him? an olympic surprise. the white house send a message to russia with who it will send and won't send to the olympic games. president obama snubbing vladamir putin. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we're following the breaking news up on capitol hill where